I've always been fascinated with ROMANCE.*
*it's not what it sounds like...
Let me explain.
I believe in quixotic romance. I believe in looking at the world and finding or fighting the good as Cervantes's character Don Quixote did in his many misadventures.
quixotic (adj) 1. exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical.
romance (n) ... 2. a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life.
I believe in what many would call stupid fantasies. There are many "dumb ideas" that occupy my mind and by today's standards aren't widely accepted. In the musical Man of La Mancha, Cervantes is put on trial by his fellow jail mates as he awaits trial from the Inquisition. In his trial, he is accused for being "...an idealist, a bad poet, and an honest man." His reply is as follows:
"It is true. I am guilty of these charges. An idealist? I have never had the courage to believe in nothing. A bad poet? that comes a bit more painfully..."
I don't have the courage to believe in nothing. I believe in God. I believe that he made me and gave me talents. I believe in love and the capacity to love even after being heart broken. We can learn to believe again that things will work out no matter what happens to us. I believe that everyone can be happy. Life is hard, but we can always find a way to have happiness in our lives.
Reading helps us to believe not in what is, but what the world can be if we do our part. Don Quixote wasn't always a knight-errant sallying forth to right the world of wrongs, but he started as a regular man who read. He read so much that it changed his outlook. He started to believe that good could be restored to the world to the point that he donned a suit of armor to battle the evil around him. I'm not saying we all need to literally "suit up" to fight evil around us, but we do need to work together to fight the things we see around us that seem unjust or incorrect. We need to find out what we believe and work to support those ideologies.
I believe in love. Not the regular romantic stuff, but the following definition of love:
Love is a feeling of deep devotion, concern, and affection (http://www.lds.org/topics/love?lang=eng&query=love)
Everyone deserves to be loved. Everyone deserves to dream and reach their dreams. Everyone deserves to believe in the inherent good that other humans possess.
In the musical, Cervantes says, "...I have been a soldier and seen my comrades fall in battle... or die more slowly under the lash in Africa. I have held them in my arms at the final moment. These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing. No glory, no gallant last words... only their eyes filled with confusion, whimpering the question: 'Why?' I do not think they asked why they were dying, but why they had lived... When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Too much sanity may be madness. To seek treasure where there is only trash. Perhaps to be practical is madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be."
I am an idealist. I believe in the good in people. I believe not in the world as it is, but in the world as it should be. Ghandi is attributed with saying, "Be the change you want to see in the world." That's harder than it seems, especially when most people criticize the idealists who try to start to make a difference in the world. We are surrounded by critics (some that are internal) that try to bring us down and keep us from making a difference, but we all can do something to help the world to be a better place.
I started thinking about all of this on Sunday during a church meeting where a lady talked about her quest to make the world a better place. I thought of knights, chivalry and gallantry.
That being said, I believe that people aren't really looking for chivalry.
chivalry (n) 1. the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code.
If you look at the definition of the word, chivalry is dead. Some of the ideologies continue, but it is essentially dead. What I think people are looking for is gallant behavior when they say they desire chivalry.
gallantry (n) ... 2. polite attention or respect given by men to women.
That's something I can be. I am not a knight, but I can be gallant. I can give that special attention and respect to women, but I cannot be a knight.
The thing is, I don't believe that just women deserve attention and respect, but we all do. That deserves another word. We need charity.
charity (n) ... 3. kindness and tolerance in judging others. acrhaic love of humankind.
We all live different lives. The way we react to things is different and often it is easy to judge another because they act differently than we would. The thing is, we are not living their life. We may try to "walk a mile in their shoes", but it is infinitely difficult for us to understand what they are really going through. Too often we try to comfort people with words when all they really need might be a hug or vice versa. In the end, the best thing we can do is communicate, express our feelings, and ask others what they need and expect from us. We should tell others how much they mean to us and ask for their help when we need it.
We are all on a team here on earth. It's not a competition against each other or a battle with your neighbor, but a struggle to get through this life together. The world will never be perfect, but we can all make a difference if we work on loving and helping those around us today.
People may believe differently than you. Who cares? There is a song that I sang as a child that says, "Jesus said love everyone; Treat them kindly too" (http://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/jesus-said-love-everyone?lang=eng).
That's what I believe we should do. Call me an idealist. I would prefer to be a modern day Don Quixote than a realist. I even played him in high school. Let's look for the good in the world, recognize it, accentuate it. "Dream the impossible dream."
I started thinking about all of this on Sunday during a church meeting where a lady talked about her quest to make the world a better place. I thought of knights, chivalry and gallantry.
That being said, I believe that people aren't really looking for chivalry.
chivalry (n) 1. the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code.
If you look at the definition of the word, chivalry is dead. Some of the ideologies continue, but it is essentially dead. What I think people are looking for is gallant behavior when they say they desire chivalry.
gallantry (n) ... 2. polite attention or respect given by men to women.
That's something I can be. I am not a knight, but I can be gallant. I can give that special attention and respect to women, but I cannot be a knight.
The thing is, I don't believe that just women deserve attention and respect, but we all do. That deserves another word. We need charity.
charity (n) ... 3. kindness and tolerance in judging others. acrhaic love of humankind.
We all live different lives. The way we react to things is different and often it is easy to judge another because they act differently than we would. The thing is, we are not living their life. We may try to "walk a mile in their shoes", but it is infinitely difficult for us to understand what they are really going through. Too often we try to comfort people with words when all they really need might be a hug or vice versa. In the end, the best thing we can do is communicate, express our feelings, and ask others what they need and expect from us. We should tell others how much they mean to us and ask for their help when we need it.
We are all on a team here on earth. It's not a competition against each other or a battle with your neighbor, but a struggle to get through this life together. The world will never be perfect, but we can all make a difference if we work on loving and helping those around us today.
People may believe differently than you. Who cares? There is a song that I sang as a child that says, "Jesus said love everyone; Treat them kindly too" (http://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/jesus-said-love-everyone?lang=eng).
That's what I believe we should do. Call me an idealist. I would prefer to be a modern day Don Quixote than a realist. I even played him in high school. Let's look for the good in the world, recognize it, accentuate it. "Dream the impossible dream."
No comments:
Post a Comment